Rail-joint.



G. H. MELVIN & A. S. ENTERLINE.

RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED 00m 17, 1912.

Patented Apr. 15, 1913.

2 BHEETSSHEBT 2.

- ED STATES P TE ciiAaLEs MELvrN um new spniwnnnmngoF-GREENvILI E, PnnNsxLvA1 rm,-

ASSIGNORS. or

VANIA. I

i -wish n entertained oetqter"17' '1a12, rranges-r 5;

T 0 (ZZZ wh'om it'may concern? Be it known "thatfwe, CHARLES-FE; C'MELVINI and Ans'rINS. ENrnnL1i-IE,.both'icitizens of the United States, residingat Greenville, in the county of Mercer "and. State, of Pennsylvania, have invented certain 'newand useful linprovementsfin- Railaloints, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to pro'vide improved means for joining the adjacent ends of railway rails. Ordinarily this is done'by -means of fish 'platesarrangedeon opposite sides of the rails at the joints and secured to the rails by means of bolts oarry- Despite the fact that numerous stance and in tightening them fromtimeu to time. g A

According to our invention, we provide what we call boltless fish plates which are provided with studs entering openings in. the webs of the rails and holding them securely in place, and we hold the fish plates to the rails by yokes which extend under the rails and engage the fish plates in such "manner as to prevent them from slipping out of place, wedges being provided to lock the yelies and fish plates together. In this way we can join the adjacent ends of rails very quickly and the fastenings'when onceapplied are strong and durable and, considering the saving of time, are comparatively inexpensive.

in the accompanying drawing:Figure 1 is a perspective view of'a rail joint embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 shows a transverse section thereof onthe line 22 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of two abutting rails and two fish plates-embodying our improvements, the fish plates being separated rrom the rails. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the yoke employed for helding the fish plates in place. Fig. 5 is a perspective viewof the Wedge used for holding the yoke on the fish plates and also illustrates a cotter pm which may be employed for fastening the wedge. Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of thejoint.

plates.

1We' have. shown our improvements-jap- Iplied to rails A, -A 'of the usual-kind No change whatever-is made-in the rails which are-formed with-holes ti usually employed, "to receiveboltsibutwhich we use for another} purpose. We employ two fish plates (land ,1), but theseare ofnovelconstructionfl.

p I The plate" 0 is formed with 'a-body 'por-j tionc adapted to bridge the joint moi? the .65 "foot-flanges thereof. It carries studs 0 I rails and to; fit 'snuglybetween the head and lone-"rump To mivinsja; niiamo i. OF- eimpnvrtpn'," runner e me w s 1 t nte Ant ,1913;

which enter registering holes a' in-the webs of therails and it is formed With-"an enlarged outer middle portion c 'iha'ving "a yokeweceiving recess c". The plate D, like Q-t-he plate 0, is'formed with a body'fportion d.

carrying studs d andha'ving an' enlarged The middle portion '01 applied 'to the rails, the'studs'enter theholes 'mi'ddle portion d formed with a' yoke-re- 'ceiving recess d y is also-formed with a hor'izontal'wedge-receiving groove. 0Z3 and with vertical keyreceiving grooves (i When the'plate's arel fat-and the rails are held inproper. alinement."

In' order to hold the plates on the rails we employ a yoke .12, comprising a base e/ and sides 6, e? The base isadapted to extend under thefoot flanges of the rails" while the sides are adapted to enter the recesses c and 03 and to embrace the fish The opening E between the sides of the yoke is slightly wider than the foot of the rail and ,one of the sides (6) is formed contiguous to the upper face of'the' base with a horizontal groove e to receive the adjacent foot flanges of the railswhile the other side (6 is formed with a horizontal wedge-receiving groove 0.

. When the fish plates are applied to the l l rails in themanner above described, the yoke is placed under them and raised until the sides of the yoke enter andare seated in flanges of the rails do not enter the groove 6 If now the wedge F beoinserted .in the grooves e and d and driven home the parts will be moved sidewise until the foot flanges of the rails enter and are seated in the groove e The wedge F may be held in position by means of a cotter'pin G extending-through one of the grooves d in the plate D and the recesses c and 01 At this time the foot through one of the holes f formed in the wedge.

The parts of the joint may be very quickly applied and locked and the joint is both secure and durable.

Our invention is shown applied to rails of standard'design but the parts may-be suitably modified to accommodate rails of different shapes.

We claim as our invention:

' 1. A .rail joint, comprising a pair of fish plates engaging the rails, a yoke having-a base on which the rails rest and upwardly projecting sides engaging the fish plates and one of which sides is formed on its inner side near the base with a groove for receiving the foot flanges of the rails, and nieans for locking one of the sides of the yoke to one of the fish plates and for forcing the foot flanges of the rails into said groove.

. 2. A rail joint, comprising a pair of fish pklates provided with stud entering holes in t e rails, a yoke extending under the rail having sides engaging the fish plates one oi which is formed with a groove for receiving the foot flanges of the rails and the other of which is provided with a wedge-receiving groove, and a wedge entering said groove engaging the adjacent fish plate and forcing the foot flanges of the rails into said groove on the other side of the oke.

3. A rail joint, comprising a pair of fish plates formed with studs entering openings in the webs of the rails and formed also with yoke-receiving recesses, a. yoke extending below the rails and having sides entering the yoke-receiving recesses in the fish plates, one of which has a groove to receive the foot flanges of the rails, and the other a wedgereceiving groove, and a wedge entering thegrooves of the fish plate and yoke, and de-' vices for holding the wedge in place.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

CHARLES H. MELVIN. AUSTIN S. ENTERLINE.

Witnesses SAMUEL J. ORR, 4 FLORENCE BEAVER.

Copies of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

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